I just wanted to start a thread by first saying, "why, oh, why are some bridal shop consultants so downright RUDE?!" I had a terrible experience, to say the least, on my first dress shopping outing. The shop hours were until 8 PM but when I showed up at 6:30 for a tentative appointment, they said they were closing early due to not having customers. "HELLO! Here I am!" She then let me try on just a few, and by the end of it, she 1) told me I just couldn’t afford the "Jim Hjelm" style lace I so loved, 2) held a dress in front of my underwear-clad self, due to "lack of time" (eye roll), and 3) told me a dress I liked had "been there done that" RIGHT after she told me they have a local exclusivity policy where they won’t order the same dress for two brides.

To make matters worse, she then had the nerve to tell me that she would appreciate it if I didn’t come in on Tuesdays or Thursdays, because those are the only days she doesn’t work!

So if you are a WNY bride, avoid Bridals by D at all costs! I tried to chalk it up to a bad day for her, but I have since called back to check on a style and the same lady was nasty again! I find myself to be pleasant and polite, even though I am the customer, so it really was HER problem!

Luckily, I have had better luck since then, but I just wanted to see if anyone else had similar experiences. My heart goes out to you!

Just wanted to confirm that I have picked out a lovely dress, and the experience was equally lovely. I couldn’t be more happy with my dress and the ladies helping me. I just don’t understand why the nasty sales consultants are in this industry if they don’t even like brides, it seems!

My family was SHOCKED by the rude reception we received when I went to try on dresses. Granted, we didn’t have an appointment (I had just gotten engaged and didn’t know the protocol!), but STILL. There was no one else in their shop, but they acted like we had imposed on them somehow. You would think they would be happy about having a potential client! I actually found my dress at a "rude" dress shop, but ordered it from a different shop where the owner is WONDERFUL. If you are in Florida, I HIGHLY recommend Formalities Bridal in Lakewood Ranch. My dress should be coming in at the end of this month. I can’t wait!!!

Years ago when my first highschool friend got married, we bridesmaids were fitted for our dresses at the shop where she had purchased her gown. I was a size 14 at the time, and they measured me and told me I’d wear a size 22. I was shocked of course, but the sales lady assured me that the dresses ran small. When we all went to get our dresses after they came in, they were all so big that they fell off of us to the floor. Then the lady said that it could be fixed with their alterations. We all walked out and hired an independent seamstress to do our alterations.

The place where I actually ordered my dress was wonderful (Atlas Bridal in Toledo).

And I, like many brides on Wedding Bee it seems, had a bad experience at David’s Bridal. The salesperson wasn’t quite rude, she just wasn’t the least bit helpful after we made suggestions of what I was actually looking for. For more than half of our appointment, she was no where to even be found even though there were only 4 other brides in the store at the time, who all appeared to already have another consultant working with them. Needless to say, we left shortly thereafter, but only after she suggested that I buy one of the only dresses she actually saw on me. Sorry, but if you want a sale, you’re going to have to try just a little bit harder!

I went with a friend to try on BM dresses for a wedding we were in. Of course, they were butt kissers to the bride, but were really rude to the other bridesmaid and I. We were not happy about having to give our hard earned money to a place that wasn’t even nice to us. Sorry BM dresses aren’t as expensive as bridal gowns, but that doesn’t entitle you to be a BIA to us! They also tried to sucker the bride into EVERYTHING, like telling her of COURSE you have to buy your shoes right here right now so they are cut from the same dye lot, and of COURSE you have to buy this specific $200 veil because it’s the perfect color, and we kept telling ther bride how ridiculous that all was (neither of us bought into the dye lot scam and found gorgeous embellished veils on ebay that loook fabulous!) and the lady kept glaring at us. But hey, she’d already pushed my buttons, and i wasn’t going to let my friend get more ripped off.

However, the place I went to for my gown was INCREDIBLE. Even though I swhowed up alone, sans bridesmaids and sans entourage, they were insanely busy and still helped me into all my dresses and laced me up, took pictures for me, etc etc. They gave me honest opinions about what it looked like, and waited around while i texted pictures to my mom during my shopping expereince. I was VERY impressed. I was only spending $400, too, so it’s not like they were butt kissing for my thousands. They were WONDERFUL! If you need a place in StL, let me knmow, i’d be happy to recommend

I only went in one store that was rude..when she found out I was getting married for the second time. I told her I was an encore bride and she didn’t know what that was..she tried to steer me towards some style that was SO UNLIKE ME and didn’t look a thing like me or my age group and then said she didn’t think she had dresses for SECOND weddings. I told her that I was no different from any other bride and me and my ability to buy/purchase a very nice dress waltzed out the door!

Now I’ve been in a few more stores and I’ve had good experiences just looking. Very high end, but the sales staff were fine. Very nice and informative,.

I recently found 2 boutiques that carry martina liana gowns and can’t wait to go in and maybe try on one of them. Crossing fingers they will be great..

JennyBryde, I have had the exact same situation happen to me twice! An evil bridal shop employee ordered me a dress that was literally eight sizes too big. Needless to say, it was literally falling off of me. They took it in for me, and when I tried it on for the second time, the sales woman had the nerve to tell me that I was bloated! I informed her that she had taken the dress in too much, which she completely denied. When I returned to try it on for the THIRD time, it was still too small, and she informed me that my back was SWOLLEN! I literally sobbed after having to deal with such insulting, incompetent people. I am really nervous about trying on wedding dresses after being treated so badly at multiple stores. I am putting off shopping for my dress until I get rave reviews about a shop!

I had a fantastic experience at the salon I ended up buying my gown from. I never felt particularly pressured to purcase an expensive dress and my consultant was the nicest woman ever! I didn’t actually go to that many salons before I ended up finding the one, but I do remember not enjoying my previous experiences…I checked out smaller, independent salons in my area and found the service to be extremely lacking and impersonal. I’d rather give my business to someone who cares!

By and large I had wonderful experience… Huge shout-outs to Haute Bride in SF, I Do Bridal in Seattle and Charlotte’s Bridal in Portland, with honorable mentions to a shop in Bellingham and one in Tacoma! All were great experiences.

However, there is one store (which shall remain nameless unless you are a Seattle bride and you PM me for more information) where they pulled a bait and switch on me and then tried to upsell me when they didn’t have the dress they assured me they had. I was infuriated most of all by the size 16 bride in the dressing room next to mine that they made weep with their impolite comments.

Seattle brides, I’m happy to share the name of this place with you though I won’t share it on the board.